Catholic 7 to become new Big East
The Big East announced Friday the split of seven Catholic schools that will start a new conference and carry with them the Big East name.
The split will officially take place July 1, bringing to an end the 34-year run of the current Big East as an East Coast power conference in basketball.
"I am pleased that this agreement has been reached," Big East commissioner Michael Aresco said in a statement. "With the long-term well-being of our outstanding institutions and their student-athletes of paramount importance, each group worked through a number of complex issues in an orderly, comprehensive and amicable manner marked by mutual respect. We part ways as friends and colleagues and look forward to the success of both conferences."
The announcement also confirmed that the new Big East will stage its annual postseason conference tournament in Madison Square Garden in New York.
The agreement includes the football schools in the current Big East receiving approximately $100 million of a $110 million reserve fund, USA Today reported. The rest will go to the departing universities.
The presidents of the seven Catholic schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova -- issued a joint statement released by the Big East:
"We are grateful to Commissioner Michael Aresco for spearheading an agreement that truly represents the best path forward for each of our great institutions and the thousands of student-athletes who compete for our schools annually. It is a great credit to Mike, our colleagues, and all involved that we were able to work through a host of highly complex and time-sensitive issues in such a short period of time."
In addition to the seven schools in the new all-sports conference, possible additions include Butler, Creighton, Dayton, St. Louis and Xavier.
The current Big East is in flux, awaiting a new name and with an evolving membership that will include Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, South Florida, Southern Methodist and Temple. Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are moving to the ACC and Rutgers to the Big Ten.
